Retiming deliveries

Retiming deliveries is about changing the times you make or receive deliveries, collections and servicing - to a time that works for you, your business, your suppliers and your customers.

Since 2015, our retiming deliveries programme has helped to retime businesses at over 500 sites, moving 166,000 deliveries out of the peak times each year. These ranged from large national organisations to small high street businesses in the retail, hospitality and servicing sectors. Working with local authorities, we achieved benefits felt by not only the businesses but the wider community.

Did you know?

More than 90% of London's freight is transported by road. In the morning peak (07:00-10:00) deliveries and servicing vehicles account for about one-third of all traffic. Avoiding these times can benefit businesses and the local area Find out more

Benefits of retiming for business

Efficient operations

More reliable delivery patterns as journeys are less likely to be delayed by congestion, letting you plan the working day more effectively.

Using vehicles around the clock improves efficiency and reduces the number of vehicles needed.

One major food service provider has reduced its HGV fleet by 18 vehicles across the UK by consolidating loads and retiming deliveries.

Cost savings

Fewer Penalty Charge Notices and related administration costs by delivering at times when restrictions do not apply.

The central London Congestion Charge zone operates Monday to Friday from 07:00 to 18:00. Delivering outside these times can cut costs by £11.50 per vehicle per day.

Changing delivery times to avoid congestion can cut journey times by up to 18.5% and make timings more reliable.

Corporate social responsibility

By working to reduce your environmental footprint and help improve air quality, you may see improvements in brand image, reputation and customer loyalty.

"We have both customers and members who live in close proximity to our stores. As such we are focused on our environmental impact, whether it is emissions or noise, and we review how we can improve and reduce our impact on those neighbours. This means identifying the environmental factors affecting our deliveries and limiting the impact of what can be a noisy activity when unloading or loading cages."

Local area benefits

Congestion and air quality

HGVs and vans make up around 35% of all road-based NOx emissions in Greater London. Congestion is a major contributor and using off-peak times when roads are less congested can reduce the environmental impacts of freight.

One business achieved a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions and a 30-minute saving each way in journey time by retiming two premises one hour earlier.

Safety

Deliveries and servicing vehicles travelling outside peak times are less likely to be involved in an incident with vulnerable road users.

Getting the timing right

Working with your local authority

A number of site-specific situations like planning conditions or noise abatement notices may impact your ability to retime, so it's important to work with your local authority to come to a solution.

To find out if any of these restrictions apply to you or for information on how to change them, contact your local authority.

"Using a trial period, we successfully changed a planning condition for delivery times and can now service our client's restaurant out of hours. This change has now been made permanent "

Enabling quiet deliveries

Key to retiming your deliveries outside of peak times is the ability to complete your logistics with minimal noise impact to your neighbours. The tools below have been developed to help you assess and plan your noise footprint and mitigate its impact on others.

Conduct a comprehensive site assessment
Carry out a noise assessment to better understand the impact your activity may have on an area. You could also consider a professional body like the Noise Abatement Society to conduct a noise assessment on your behalf
Create a noise management plan (NMP) to assist businesses, regulators and local residents to understand how noise impacts will be managed and controlled

Investing in quiet equipment and staff training

To assist you in making the transition out of the peak times, we have developed a number of tools in collaboration with the Retiming Deliveries Consortium to ensure minimal disturbance to the community by reducing noise.

Code of Practice

We have developed a Code of Practice to help organisations manage quieter delivery, collection and servicing activity.

Quiet equipment matrix

Our quiet equipment guide is an easy to use reference which outlines the quiet equipment and technology currently available to businesses and fleet operators to help minimise delivery related noise. Find out more about the quiet equipment matrix.

Online Training

An online training course aims to educate staff on noise, its impact and best practice in receiving and delivering goods. This training is free to access, however sign-up is required.

Quiet buildings guidance

A guide has been compiled with input from industry on best practice for developments and to ensure quiet deliveries are possible. This guide is intended for architects, developers and local authorities and provides a list of potential measures that can be implemented to help mitigate against noise, through better building design, planning and infrastructure.

Contacts

For assistance with noise or completing a professional noise assessment visit the Noise Abatement Society website.

It's important to work with your local authority when trying to retime deliveries. For more information visit your local authority's website.

Further tools to calculate potential savings

Find out about measuring and reporting on environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions on the government's website.

FTA user guide

Find out about road freight conversion factors on the Freight Transport Association's website.